John Henry Ley

John Henry Ley (1770 – 21 August 1850), was an English civil servant who served as Clerk of the House of Commons from 1820 to 1850.

John Henry Ley
Clerk of the House of Commons
In office
1820–1850
Preceded byJohn Hatsell
Succeeded bySir Denis Le Marchant, Bt
Personal details
Born1770
Died21 August 1850(1850-08-21) (aged 79–80)
Spouse
Lady Dorothea Hay
​
​
(m. 1809)​
Children6
Parent(s)Henry Ley
Mary Smith
EducationWestminster School
Alma materChrist's College, Cambridge

Early life

He was a son of Henry Ley (1744–1824) and Mary (née Smith) Ley (1748–1834), a daughter of Capt. Smith of the Royal Navy. His sister, Mary Ley, married John Greathed Harris, FRS, and his younger brother, William Ley of Woodlands, was Assistant Clerk of the House of Commons from 1820 to 1856.[1][lower-alpha 1]

His paternal grandparents were John Ley and Grace (née Grandy) Ley (a daughter of Henry Grandy, of Exeter).[4] His family had been settled in Kenn for several generations and were "sprung from a common ancestor with the Leys, formerly Earls of Marlborough."[1]

Ley was educated as a King's Scholar at Westminster School, before being elected a Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, but "being desirous of going to Christ Church, with his contemporaries, the Westminster Students, he was entered as a Commoner of that College; he was soon after presented to a Studentship by Dr. Shafto, one of the Canons."[5] After earning his degree, he left Christ Church, and "commenced his studies for the law, in the office of Mr. Abraham Moore, an eminent special pleader, where he continued for two years, and kept his terms as Student of the Middle Temple."[5]

Career

His uncle, John Ley, served as Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons. In 1797, John Hatsell, the Clerk of the House of Commons since 1768, retired but kept his title and the official residence (next to the Commons), while his uncle carried out the normal business of the post.[6] Hatsell and Ley divided the large income accruing to the clerks from the passage of private bills through Parliament.[7] Around 1811, however, his uncle had a falling out with Hatsell over clerical appointments. Following Ley's death in 1814, his uncle's position was taken by Jeremiah Dyson the younger.[8] Background to the quarrel was resistance to the Ley family influence,[lower-alpha 2] in which Charles Abbot—Speaker from 1802 to 1817—sided with Hatsell.[10][11]

Despite Hatsell's quarrel and Abbbot's opposition (Charles Manners-Sutton had become Speaker in 1817), upon Hatsell death in 1820, Ley was appointed Clerk of the House, which came with an annual salary of £3,500, together with an official residence.[11] Ley's residence next to the Commons chamber in St Stephen's Chapel was among the parts of the old Palace of Westminster that was destroyed by fire in October 1834. He served in the role until his death in 1850, after which he was succeeded by Sir Denis Le Marchant, 1st Baronet.[12] At the time of his death, however, the clerk assistant was his brother William and the second clerk assistant was his son Henry.[9]

Personal life

On 23 October 1809, Ley married Lady Dorothea Frances Hay (1789–1875), a daughter of George Hay, 7th Marquess of Tweeddale and Lady Hannah Charlotte Maitland (a daughter of James Maitland, 7th Earl of Lauderdale).[13] When not in London, they lived at the Ley family seat, Trehill House in Kenn, Devon,[14] and were the parents of five sons and one surviving daughter, including:[5]

Ley died on 21 August 1850.[5] His widow died on 12 October 1875.[16]

Descendants

Through his daughter Frances, he was a grandfather of two granddaughters; Frances Dorothea Charlotte Somerset (d. 1894) and Mary Isabella Frances Somerset (d. 1929), neither of whom married; and two grandsons; the Rev. Henry Plantagenet Somerset (1845–1926), Rector and Rural Dean at Crickhowell, and John Henry William Somerset (1848–1928).[14]

Through his son, he was a grandfather of John Henry Francis Ley (1847–1930),[17] who married Mary Coats Chamley (a daughter of Matthew Chamley of Warcop House, Westmorland).[4]

References
Notes
  1. Ley's younger brother, William Ley, married Frances Hatsell, a daughter of James Hatsell (brother of John Hatsell, Ley's predecessor Clerk of the House of Commons).[1][2] Frances' sister, Penelope Hatsell, was the wife of the Hon. Rev. Littleton Powys (the second surviving son of Thomas Powys, 1st Baron Lilford and younger brother to Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford); and grandmother of Arthur Powys-Vaughan.[3]
  2. The Ley family had nine members working in the clerks' department of the Commons between 1768 and 1908.[9]
Sources
  1. Walford, Edward (1864). The County Families of the United Kingdom, Or Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland ; Containing a Brief Notice of the Descent, Birth, Marriage, Education, and Appointments of Each Person, His Heir ... Together with His Town Address and Country Residence. Hardwicke. p. 611. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  2. "Bundle of letters to Henry Ley, Trehill, unless otherwise stated, largely about William Ley's dispute with John Hatsell, and his courting of Frances Hatsell". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  3. Foster, Joseph (1882). The Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire for 1882: Forming the Second Part of "The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire". Nichols. p. 411. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  4. Burke, Sir Bernard (1921). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain. Burke Publishing Company. p. 1093. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  5. "The Late John Henry Ley, Esq". The Western Times. 24 August 1850. p. 5. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  6. Burke, Edmund (1968). The Correspondence of Edmund Burke: January 1792 - August 1794. CUP Archive. p. 538.
  7. "I. Procedure, History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  8. Williams, Orlo (1954). The Clerical Organization of the House of Commons, 1661-1850. Clarendon Press. pp. 103–105, 355. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  9. Rix, Kathryn (26 July 2021). "Half a century at the table: John Henry Ley and the staff of the House of Commons". The Victorian Commons. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  10. Laundy, Philip. "Onslow, Arthur". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/20788. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  11. "IV. The Changing Face of the House and Political Parties, History of Parliament Online". www.historyofparliamentonline.org.
  12. "JOHN HENRY LEY. ESQ. LATE CLERK OF THE HOUSE. (Hansard, 5 February 1851)". api.parliament.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  13. Walford, Edward (1871). The County Families of the United Kingdom: Or, Royal Manual of the Titled and Untitled Aristocracy of Great Britain and Ireland : Containing a Brief Notice of the Descent, Birth, Marriage, Education, and Appointments of Each Person, His Heir Apparent Or Presumptive, as Also a Record of the Offices which He Has Hitherto Held, Together with His Town Address and Country Residence. Robert Hardwicke. p. 607. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  14. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes. Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999, volume 1, page 223.
  15. The Court Magazine and Monthly Critic, and Lady's Magazine and Museum: A Family Journal of the Belles Lettres, Music, Fine Arts, Drama, Fashion, Etc. Dobbs. July 1845. p. 37. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  16. Lodge, Edmund (1877). The Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire as at Present Existing. Hurst and Blackett, Publishers. p. 54. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  17. "19th century watercolour portrait of John Ley". www.reemandansie.com. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
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